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A  Spiritual  Ground  of  Hope  for  the  Salvation  of  our  Country. 


A.    DISOOTJRSE 


DELIVERED    IN  THE 


NEW  JERUSALEM  TEMPLE, 


CHICAGO,  AUGUST  6,  1863. 


BY  REV.  J.  R.  HIBBARD, 


PUBLISHED   BY  REQUEST. 


CHICAGO: 

TRIBUNE  COMPANY'S  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTING  OFFICE,  51  CLARE  STREET. 

1862. 


A  SPIRITUAL  GROUND  OF  HOPE  FOR  THE  SALVATION  OF 
OUR  COUNTRY. 


J^    DISCOURSE 


DELIVERED    IN    THE 


NEW  JERUSALEM  TEMPLE, 


CHICAGO,  AUGUST  6,  1863. 


BY  REV.  J.  R.  HIBBARD, 

PA.STOR. 


PUBIilSHED   B¥  REQUEST. 


CHICAGO: 

TRIBUNE  COMPANY'S  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTING  OFFICE,  51  CLARK  STREET. 

1862. 


Digitized  by  tlie  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2010  witli  funding  from 

CARL!:  Consortium  of  Academic  and  Researcli  Libraries  in  Illinois 


http://www.archive.org/details/spiritualgroundoOOhibb 


DISCOURSE. 


We  have  been  invited  by  our  Chief  Magistrate  to 
assemble  to-day  for  a  special  purpose,  and  special  rea- 
sons are  assigned  by  him  for  the  invitation.  We  are 
called  upon  "  to  render  homage  to  the  Divine  Majesty 
for  the  wonderful  things  he  has  done  in  the  nation's 
behalf,  and  invoke  the  influence  of  his  Holy  Spirit  to 
subdue  the  anger  which  has  produced  and  so  long  sus- 
tained a  needless  and  cruel  rebellion ;  to  change  the 
hearts  of  the  insurgents;  to  guide  the  counsels  of  the 
Government  with  wisdom  adequate  to  the  great  national 
emergency;  to  visit  with  tender  care  and  consolation, 
throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  our  land,  all 
those  who,  through  the  vicissitudes  of  war,  have  been 
brought  to  suffer  in  mind,  body  or  estate ;  and  finally, 
to  lead  the  whole  nation,  through  paths  of  repentance 
and  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  to  the  perfect  enjoy- 
ment of  union  and  fraternal  peace." 

The  special  reasons  given  for  calling  upon  "  the  people 
of  the  United  States  to  unite  in  this  thanksgiving, 
praise  and  prayer,"  are,  that  "  it  has  pleased  Almighty 
God  to  listen  to  the  prayers  of  an  afflicted  people,  and 
to  vouchsafe  to  our  arms,  by  land  and  sea,  victories  so 
signal  and  effective  as  to  furnish  reasonable  grounds  for 
augmented  confidence  that  the  Union  of  these  States  will 
be  maintained,  their  Constitution  preserved,  and  their 
peace  and  prosperity  pennanently  secured ;"  and  because 


"  these  victories  have  cost  much  sacrifice,  domestic  afilic- 
tion  and  bereavement;"  and  because  "it  is  meet  and 
right  to  recognize  and  confess  the  presence  of  the 
Almighty  Father,  and  the  power  of  his  hand  equally  in 
these  triumphs  and  in  these  sorrows." 

And  as  an  appropriate  Divine  theme  for  the  occasion, 
I  have  chosen  the  following  passage  from  Zephaniah  : 

"  Therefore  wait  ye  upon  me,  saith  the  Lord,  until  the 
day  that  I  rise  up  to  the  prey  ;  for  my  determination  is 
to  gather  the  nations,  that  I  may  assemble  the  kingdoms, 
to  pour  upon  them  mine  indignation,  even  all  my  fierce 
anger  ;  for  all  the  earth  shall  be  devoured  by  the  fire  of 
my  jealousy.  For  then  will  I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure 
language,  that  they  may  all  call  upon  the  name  of  the 
Lord,  to  serve  him  with  one  consent."     (3  :  8,  9.) 

The  general  scope  and  bearing  of  the  text  is  readily 
grasped  by  those  who  ai'e  in  the  habit  of  reading,  care- 
fully and  thoughtfully,  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  in  the  light 
of  the  New  Church. 

In  its  most  obvious  sense  we  see  it  to  be  an  invitation 
from  the  Lord  to  his  people,  to  wait  upon  him,  to  serve 
him,  and  trust  in  him,  and  wait  patiently  his  time  to 
execute  judgment  upon  the  nations ;  knowing  that  he  is 
"King of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords;"  that  "Heruleth 
over  the  nations  of  the  earth;"  that  "He  raiseth  up  one 
and  putteth  down  another,"  as  he  sees  will  most  conduce 
to  the  eternal  good  of  mankind;  aod  that  in  his  own  good 
time — when  his  infinite  wisdom  sees  that  the  time  has 
come — he  will,  in  an  unusual  and  remarkable  manner, 
"gather  the  nations  and  assemble  the  kingdoms,  to  pour 
upon  them  his  indignation  and  the  fierceness  of  his 
anger,  and  devour  them  with  the  fire  of  his  jealousy." 
Not  that  the  Lord  does  this  directly,  or  by  the  immediate 


influence  of  liis  spirit,  for  the  Lord  is  never  angry,  nor 
fierce,  nor  indignant,  but  such  is  the  appearance  to  those 
who  are  evil,  and  resist  or  pervert  the  influences  of  his 
love,  and  the  government  of  his  wisdom ;  and  that  this 
will  be  done,  that  the  nations  of  the  earth  may  be  puri- 
fied, their  evils  broken  up  and  removed,  and  a  new  and 
better  state  of  things  caused  to  exist, — a  state  in  which 
the  people  will  acknowledge  the  Lord  and  serve  him. 
"  Then  will  I  turn  to  the  people  a  pure  language,  that 
they  may  call  upon  the  name  of  the  Lord,  to  serve  him 
with  one  consent." 

The  text  thus  obviously  involves  the  acknowledgment 
of  the  Lord  as  the  Supreme  Governor  of  nations ;  and 
that  the  wars  and  desolations  which  sometimes  come 
upon  them,  while  caused  by  their  sins,  are  nevertheless 
under  Divine  control ;  and  that  they  are  permitted  and 
overruled,  to  the  end  that  all  may  be  led  to  "  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord,  and  to  serve  him  with  one  consent." 
And  that  a  time  should  come  when  this  would  be  mani. 
festly  so  in  an  unusual  and  remarkable  manner. 

But  in  the  light  of  the  New  Church,  it  is  given  to 
those  who  are  willing  to  use  it  to  see,  not  only  in  a  gen- 
eral and  obscure  manner  those  features  of  the  text,  but 
to  see,  with  some  clearness,  the  "times  and  seasons"  re- 
ferred to.  And,  knowing  the  intimate  relation  existing 
between  the  spiritual  and  the  natural  worlds,  and  that 
all  the  events  that  take  place  in  the  natural  originate 
in  the  activities  of  the  spiritual,  it  becomes,  U23on  an 
occasion  like  the  present,  a  matter  of  interest  as  well  as 
propriety,  to  direct  our  attention  to  the  spiritual  causes 
that  have  produced  and  are  continuing  the  present  ter- 
rible commotions  in  our  country,  and  which  threaten  to 
involve,  ere  long,  the  civilized  world  in  a  religious  as 
well  as  civil  war ;  and  to  see  whether  recent  victories 


and  successes,  with  other  connected  circumstances,  afford 
reasonable  ground  of  encouragement  and  hope  for  the 
final  success  of  our  arms,  and  the  preservation  of  our 
nation,  and  the  advancement  of  the  principles  of  genu- 
ine freedom,  and  an  increase  of  the  fear,  love  and  service 
of  the  Lord  amongst  men. 

We  feel  assured  they  do,  and  we  propose  briefly  to 
give  some  reasons  for  this  assurance. 

These  reasons,  as  they  arise  in  our  own  mind,  cluster 
around  three  things :  Divine  Providence,  the  Last  Judg- 
ment, and  the  Fourth  of  July. 


DIVINE    PROVIDENCE. 


The  Lord  governs  the  world,  from  a  love  that  is  never 
unkind,  and  by  a  wisdom  that  never  blunders.  His 
divine  love  wills  or  permits  every  event  that  takes  place; 
and  his  infinite  wisdom  provides  that  everything  "shall 
work  together  for  good  to  them  that  love  God,"  and, 
by  the  efibrt  to  do  his  will,  will  place  themselves  in  the 
stream  of  his  life ;  and  that,  to  the  evil  and  perverse, 
everything  shall  work  together  to  produce  the  best  re- 
sults possible,  consistent  with  their  free  will.  He  who 
created,'  daily  sustains  the  world.  He  who  redeemed, 
daily  provides,  as  far  as  possible,  for  its  salvation.  He 
who  by  the  suflferance  of  trials,  and  temptations,  and  the 
cross,  purified,  and  sanctified,  and  glorified  his  humanity, 
continues  still,  by  means  of  trials  and  temptations,  and 
the  crucifixion  and  death  of  earthly  things,  to  purify, 
and  sanctify,  and  elevate  the  world  to  a  higher  and  bet- 
ter state.  The  tender  mercies  of  our  God  are  over  all 
his  works.  "His  sun  rises  on  the  evil  and  the  good, 
and  his  rain  falls  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust."  So 
that  while,  as  the  "Most  High  God,"  he  "ruleth  in  the 
kingdom  of  men,  and  appointeth  over  it  whomsoever 


lie  will,"  in  all  that  he  does,  he  seeks  to  provide  for, 
and  promote  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  the  least 
as  well  as  the  greatest,  the  lowest  as  well  as  the  highest, 
in  his  kingdom.  While  he  controls  the  nations,  build- 
ing up  one  and  pulling  down  another,  he  watches,  with 
equal  care,  the  life  and  destiny  of  every  individual  in 
them.  He  beholds  and  overrules,  not  only  kings  and 
presidents,  and  the  nations  over  which  they  preside,  but 
every  man  therein.  He  sees  the  sparrow,  when  it  falls, 
and  numbers  the  hairs  of  our  head.  The  Divine  Provi- 
dence— the  spirit  and  governance  of  divine  love  and 
wisdom — has  been,  and  still  is  present,  in  all  the  affairs 
of  our  beloved  country,  providing  the  best  of  good,  and 
23ermitting  the  least  of  evil  possible,  consistent  with  the 
free  will  of  our  people,  individually  and  collectively. 

From  this  view  of  the  Divine  Government,  we  see 
that  all  the  events  that  have  transpired  in  relation  to 
our  country,  whether  apparently  propitious  or  adverse, 
are  really  for  its  final  good,  and  we  thence  draw  encour- 
agement to  believe,  that,  while  the  rebellion  itself,  and 
its  earlier  successes,  were  apparently  disastrous  to  our 
country,  and  threatened  the  dissolution  of  our  Govern- 
ment and  the  overthrow  of  our  free  institutions,  they  were 
really  but  the  permissions  of  a  merciful  Father,  to  try 
our  love  for  our  country,,  and,  by  the  fear  of  its  loss, 
render  it  more  dear  to  our  hearts,  and  by  afflictions  to 
purify  and  exalt  both  our  country  and  our  love  for  it ;  by 
freeing  our  country  from  great  evils,  rendering  it  more 
worthy  of  our  love,  and  by  our  sufferings  in  its  behalf, 
making  our  love  for  it  less  selfish  and  more  worthy  of 
bestowal.  The  people  generally  but  little  realized  the 
value  of  our  country,  or  our  Government,  until  they  saw 
them  in  imminent  danger  of  being  taken  away;  and 
until  a  common  danger  threatened,  and  a  common  woe  of 


blood,  and  tears,  and  suffering  came  upon  us,  each  one 
lived  for  himself  instead  of  for  his  neighbor,  his  country, 
or  his  God.  But  a  danger  and  affliction  in  which  all  are 
involved,  from  which  none  are  entirely  exempt,  have 
opened  the  hearts  of  the  people  towards  each  other,  and 
brought  more  near,  and  into  closer  and  kinder  sym- 
pathy, the  souls  of  all  loyal  citizens.  And  in  this  "fur- 
nace of  affliction "  all  the  various  loyal  elements  in  our 
land  have  been  melted  into  one  ardent  compact  body  of 
patriotic  self  sacrificing  men  and  women,  devoting  them- 
selves with  all  they  have  and  are,  to  the  various  services 
required  to  protect,  defend  and  preserve  our  union  and 
our  country,  while  the  dross  by  the  same  furnace  is  being 
separated  and  consumed. 

And  while  thus  encouraged  to  believe  that  good  results 
have  followed  in  the  path  of  our  earlier  reverses,  we  are 
also  still  more  encouraged  to  believe  that  our  recent  vic- 
tories are  tokens  also  of  the  Divine  favor,  and  of  the 
Divine  purpose  to  protect  and  save  our  Government  from 
dissolution,  and  continue,  in  an  increased  degree,  its  bless- 
ings to  generations  yet  to  come ;  that,  having  humbled 
ourselves  under  affliction,  we  shall,  according  to  the  prom- 
ise given  to  such,  "  be  exalted." 

A  host  of  reasons  for  encouragement  gather  around 
this  view  of  the  Divine  Providence  and  its  operation 
in  the  government  of  our  nation ;  so  many  we  cannot 
enumerate  them  in  an  hour's  discourse ;  and  we  must 
leave  this,  and  pass  to  the  second  centre  of  reasons  for 
encouragement  to  believe  that  our  recent  victories 
betoken  ultimate  success  in  saving  our  country  with  its 
blessings,  as  a  heritage  to  our  children  and  the  world : 

THE    LAST   JUDGMENT. 

And,  that  we  may  see  the  bearing  of  the  Last  Judg- 


9 

ment  upon  tlie  present  subject,  we  must  say  a  few  words 
concerning  it,  and  in  doing  so,  shall  repeat  what  some 
of  you,  perhaps,  may  have  heard  from  us  before. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  first  Christian  Church, 
those  who  were  interiorly  and  at  the  same  time  exteri- 
orly good,  as  they  passed  into  the  spiritual  world,  were 
taken  up  into  heaven ;  while  those  who  were  interiorly 
and  at  the  same  time  exteriorly  evil,  were  cast  into  hell. 
But  as  that  Church  increased,  became  external  and  cor- 
rupt, there  came  to  be  a  class  of  persons  who  were 
externally  religious  but  internally  evil,  who  externally 
worshipped  God,  attended  the  church,  observed  the  sac- 
raments, etc.,  but  in  their  hearts  made  light  of  the  com- 
mandments, thought  nothing  of  disobedience  to  them  in 
secret,  and  were  internally  evil  although  externally  good. 
They  could  not  go  to  heaven,  for  their  evils  would  infest 
the  angels.  Nor  need  they  at  once  be  cast  into  hell,  for 
they  were  externally  good,  and  could  live  in  some  kind 
of  peace  in  society  with  the  simple  good  in  the  world  of 
spirits.  They  were,  therefore,  permitted  to  remain  in  the 
world  of  spirits,  and  there  form  societies  and  habitations, 
as  it  were,  heavens,  in  which  they  dwelt.  Being  below 
the  angelic  heaven,  and  closely  associated  with  the  minds 
of  men  upon  earth,  the  influence  of  the  Lord  and  the 
angels  as  it  came  down  towards  men,  would  be  interrupted 
by  them,  like  the  sunlight  by  dark  clouds ;  or,  as  a  message 
sent  by  an  unfaithful  or  dishonest  messenger,  the  angelic 
influence,  on  its  way  to  man,  would  be  perverted  to  agree 
with  their  own  evil  state,  like  sunlight  passing  through 
smoked  glass.  So  that  the  Church  and  the  world,  from 
their  influence,  would  become  more  corrupt,  and,  react- 
ing, such  persons  would  become  more  numerous,  until 
the  light  of  heaven  would  be  almost  entirely  shut  out 
from  men,  and  the  love  of  self,  and  lust  of  dominion,  in 

2 


10 

connection  with  all  false  principles  agreeing  with  those 
loves,  would  universally  prevail  in  the  Church,  and  con- 
sequently, in  the  civil  and  social  life  of  Christendom. 
This  would  go  on  until  the  world  would  be  in  danger 
of  being  utterly  desolated  and  the  human  race  destroyed. 
When,  to  prevent  this,  it  would  become  necessary  that 
a  Judgment  should  be  executed  upon  the  evil  in  the 
world  of  spirits,  their  evil  states  be  made  manifest,  and 
they  be  cast  down  into  hell.  Their  fictitious  habitations, 
being  hypocritical  like  themselves,  or  an  effigy  of  their 
own  state,  would  disappear.  The  world  of  spirits,  left 
unobstructed  by  their  presence  and  influence,  would  per- 
mit the  light  from  heaven  to  flow  more  directly  and 
without  perversion  into  the  minds  of  men. 

This  event  took  place  in  the  year  1757,  and  at  the 
same  time,  a  new  heaven,  of  true  and  genuine  Christians, 
of  those  who,  while  they  lived  in  this  world,  and  after 
they  went  out  of  this  world,  could  acknowledge  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  as  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  and  who 
lived  lives  of  love  and  charity  to  the  neighbor,  began  to 
be  formed  in  the  region  where  the  fictitious  heavens  of 
the  internally  evil  had  been. 

At  the  same  time,  also,  the  Lord  revealed  from  His 
Word  to  men,  the  doctrines  which  are  taught,  believed, 
and  practiced  by  the  angels  of  this  heaven ;  and  thus 
began  to  establish  a  New  Church  on  the  earth,  having  the 
same  doctrines  of  faith  and  life  as  the  new  heaven.  Since 
then,  persons  passing  into  the  world  of  spirits  do  not 
remain  long  there ;  none  more  than  twenty  or  thirty 
years,  few  anything  like  so  long.  But  the  internally  good 
are  prepared  and  pass  up  and  find  their  place  in  the 
new  heaven,  while  the  internally  evil  pass  down  into  hell. 
So  that,  not  being  obstructed  by  the  long  continued 
presence  of  evil  in  the  world  of  spirits,  the  light  and  in- 


11 

fluence  of  the  new  heaven  can,  and  do,  since  then,  flow 
more  directly  and  powerfully  into  the  minds  of  men. 
And  as  the  new  heaven  increases  in  numbers,  its  influ- 
ence increases  in  the  minds  of  men,  and  its  principles  of 
love  to  the  Lord,  and  charity  towards  the  neighbor,  are 
more  and  more  received  and  operative  in  the  world. 

In  the  latter  age  of  the  first  Christian  Church,  from 
the  influence  of  the  evil  and  hypocritical  in  the  world 
of  spirits,  faith  alone,  or  belief,  instead  of  a  life  of  char- 
ity, was  taught  as  a  means  of  salvation,  and  its  legitimate 
effect  upon  society  was  the  common  feeling  that  a  life  of 
use,  of  charity,  of  labor,  was  degrading ;  but  a  life  of 
faith,  of  belief  that  Christ  suffered  for  them,  and  they 
need  not  work  at  all,  was  honorable.  Hence  the  institu- 
tions and  forms  of  society  for  the  support  of  an  aristoc- 
racy of  idleness,  of  gentlemen  of  leisure,  all  over  Christ- 
endom a  hundred  years  ago.  The  Last  Jud cement  re- 
moved the  exciting  cause  of  these  false  principles  and 
parties  in  the  world  of  spirits,  while  the  formation  of  a 
new  heaven,  and  the  revelation  of  its  doctrines  for  the 
establishment  of  a  New  Church  on  the  earth,  gave  rise  to 
a  new  class  of  principles,  to  a  new  order  of  influx,  to  a 
new  train  of  thought  and  feeling  concerning  life ;  beo-an 
indeed  a  new  kind  of  common  sense  among  men.  The 
doctrine  of  charity,  of  use,  of  salvation  by  the  Lord  only 
in  the  degree  man  keeps  the  commandments,  and  in  ceas- 
ing to  do  evil  learns  to  do  well,  to  be  useful,  to  do  some- 
thing that  in  some  way  promotes  the  common  good, 
began  to  be  taught ;  and  the  new  influx  of  common 
sense,  from  the  new  heaven,  agreeing  with  it,  began  to 
strengthen  the  new  doctrine,  that  charity,  use,  work 
labor,  was  the  crown  of  manhood. 

This  new  order  of  thought  and  element  of  life,  as 
following  the  Last  Judgment,  began  in  1757 — weak  at 


12 

first,  but  continually  becoming  stronger.  All  the  false 
notions  of  life,  and  evil  forms  of  society  in  accordance 
with  tliem,  were  of  course  antagonistic  to  the  new  ele- 
ment that  was  forming  itself  from  heaven  into  the  minds 
of  men.  The  effect  of  this  continued  and  increasing 
influx,  must  therefore,  of  course,  be  commotion,  change, 
renovation,  reconstruction  of  the  order  of  things  in  all 
departments,  and  in  all  the  planes  of  life,  scientific,  artis- 
tic, civil,  social,  and  religious :  the  breaking  up  of  the 
old,  and  hard,  and  false,  and  useless,  and  the  forma- 
tion and  growth  of  the  new,  and  living,  and  true,  and 
useful. 

In  all  divine  creations  "  that  is  first  which  is  natural, 
afterwards  that  which  is  sj^iritual,"  whether  it  be  a 
man  as  an  individual,  or  a  nation,  or  a  church,  or  a 
heaven. 

The  Lord  formed  the  earth  before  he  formed  man 
upon  it.  And  when  he  would  form  an  angel,  he  first 
forms  the  body  of  an  infant,  afterwards  the  rational  and 
regenerate  man,  and  finally  the  angel ;  and  in  the  regen- 
eration of  a  man,  the  child  first  learns  and  understands 
natural  truths,  natural  things,  and  afterwards  rational, 
and  finally  spiritual  things.  The  same  law  holds  true 
in  regard  to  the  establishment,  form^ation,  and  growth 
of  man  as  a  church,  as  a  dispensation,  as  a  new  order  of 
human  life  on  earth.  That  is  first  which  is  natural; 
that  is,  that  which  is  first  formed  and  appears  is  natural, 
having  within  it  the  germ  of  what  is  spiritual,  as  the 
body  of  the  infant  is  first  formed,  and  has  in  it  the  germ 
of  the  spiritual  man.  The  influence  of  the  new  heaven, 
flowing  down,  and  pressing  to  be  received,  would  mani- 
fest itself  by  its  effects,  through  those  faculties  of  the 
mind  open  to  its  reception.  There  would  be  first  the 
lowest  natural,  the  sensual,  those  relating  to  the  phys- 


13 

ical  sciences  and  arts,  and  tliat  have  care  for  tlie  physical 
and  worldly  comfort  and  happiness  of  man.  The  new 
life  and  light,  flowing  into  these  faculties,  would  break 
out  in  new  discoveries  in  science,  and  new  inventions  in 
art,  and  these  would  follow  each  other  in  rapid  succes- 
sion as  the  new  influence  increased.  The  notions  of 
science  that  before  prevailed  would  be  exploded  or 
renovated,  and  new  principles,  founded  on  experience 
in  the  light  of  reason,  would  take  their  place.  The 
arts,  for  use  especially,  would  leap  with  new  life. 

And  what  has  been  the  state  of  things  in  this  respect 
since  1*757?  The  sciences  and  useful  arts  are  since  then 
almost  a  new  creation.  The  steamboat,  the  railroad,  the 
telegraph,  the  power  press,  the  cotton  gin,  the  sower  and 
the  reaper  and  the  mower,  improved  machinery  for  spin- 
ning and  weaving  and  knitting  and  sewing,  and  ten 
thousand  other  things,  from  the  friction  match  that  lights 
your  fire  to  the  subject  sunlight  that  prints  your  por- 
trait, or  the  fire-sped  chariot  that  in  a  day  sweeps  you 
across  a  kingdom  or  a  continent,  all  have  come  down  or 
out  from  the  new  heaven  since  1757 — and  the  day  of 
making  all  things  new  has  but  just  begun. 

The  natural  plane  for  man's  physical  comfort  has  just 
begun  to  be  prepared  for  the  coming  forth  and  residence 
of  the  higher  things  of  the  New  Jerusalem,  the  order  of 
things  which  will  surely  follow.  And  through  what 
opposition  and  battling  from  the  old  have  all  these  new 
things  come!  How  Fulton  labored  and  struggled  for 
long  weary  years  against  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of 
old  ideas  !  And  Morse  the  same.  We  well  remember 
when  the  proprietors  of  the  old  stage  coaches  opposed 
the  railroad,  because  it  would  not  only  destroy  their 
business,  but  the  farmer's  business  of  raising  horses, 
upon  the  supposition  that  there  would  be  no  use  for  them. 


14 

And  the  cotton  and  woollen  factories  and  sewing  ma- 
chines were  long  and  bitterly  opposed,  lest  they  should 
starve  the  poor  who  spun  and  wove  and  sewed  for  their 
support.  The  old  and  useless  in  science  and  art,  as  in 
everything  else,  loves  ease,  hates  change,  dreads  death, 
and  battles  against  the  new  till  its  last  breath.  Every- 
thing new,  like  a  new  birth,  comes  with  struggling  and 
pangs. 

After,  and  above  the  plane  of  science  and  art  for  the 
physical  comfort  of  man,  and  the  lowest  basis  of  society 
and  the  Church,  comes  the  civil  and  social  plane  of  life. 
Previous  to  1757  the  forms  of  the  civil  and  social  world 
in  Christendom  grew  out  of  the  doctrine  of  faith  instead 
of  charity,  the  lust  of  dominion  instead  of  love ;  out  of 
the  doctrine  that  idleness  was  genteel  and  honorable, 
and  labor  servile  and  degrading.  And  Calvin  taught 
that  even  the  effort  to  do  anything  good  was  a  sin.  The 
spirit  of  the  civil  government,  as  derived  from  the  state 
of  the  Church,  was  like  its  origin.  The  idle  few  ruled, 
for  their  own  aggrandizement,  the  many  laborers.  The 
working  men  had  no  liberty  to  choose  who  should  be 
the  medium  of  law  from  God  to  them.  They  had  no 
freedom  to  choose  politically  whether  they  would  serve 
the  Lord  or  Baal.  A  self  elected  few  claimed  the  divine 
birth-right  to  rule  the  many ;  and  this  with  several  of 
the  nations  had  worked  down  so  low  that  a  part  of  the 
people  were  bought  and  sold  like  cattle. 

After  the  Last  Judgment,  when  the  spirit  of  the  new 
heaven,  the  spirit  of  use,  of  labor,  of  voluntarily  and 
rationally  doing  something  useful,  began  to  flow  down 
and  be  perceived  as  the  true  index  and  measure  of  a 
man,  the  old  spirit  and  effete  forms  of  civil  and  social 
life  began  to  feel  and  fear  its  influence.  The  civil  plane 
of  the  minds  of  some  were  sufliciently  open  to   perceive 


15 

aud  receive  something  of  true  light  in  civil  affairs,  to 
receive  some  light  concerning  a  right  order  of  civil 
government.  In  due  time,  through  the  civil  plane  of 
the  minds  of  the  fathers  of  our  country,  there  came  forth 
the  form  of  our  Republican  Government. 

We  may,  and  I  do  believe  that  the  idea  of  our  Govern- 
ment came  forth  from  the  Lord,  by  the  descending  influ- 
ences of  the  new  heaven,  through  the  civil  plane  of  the 
minds  of  our  fathers,  that  it  might  be  a  new,  free,  civil 
Government  as  a  plane  for  the  free  as  New  Jerusalem 
Church. 

But  the  IDEA  of  our  Government,  begotten  of  the 
Lord  by  the  influence  of  the  new  heaven  flowing  into 
the  civil  plane  of  the  minds  of  our  fathers,  was  not  born 
without  struggles,  and  violence,  and  blood.  The  old 
tyrannies  and  aristocracies  opposed  and  battled  against 
the  growing  sentiment  of  free  government,  and  the 
dignity  of  useful  labor.  And  in  the  throes  of  our  Revo- 
lution many  of  our  fathers  laid  down  their  lives.  But 
a  new  nation — new  in  spirit,  form  and  life — was  born 
from  the  struggle  though  baptized  in  their  blood. 

Since  1757,  the  same  spirit  from  the  new  heaven  that 
gave  rise  to  our  Government,  has  been  pressing  down 
and  striving  to  come  forth  in  the  Old  World.  And 
what  upheavings  and  struggles  have  been  produced  by 
the  eftbrts  of  the  old  tyrannies  to  oppose  its  utterance! 
Yet  every  eftbrt  to  hold  it  back  breaks  some  bond ;  every 
resistance  loosens  some  fetter ;  until  to-day,  in  England, 
France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  even  Russia,  the  laboring 
serf  breathes  more  freely,  and  feels  himself,  and  is,  a 
hundred  per  cent,  more  a  man  than  he  w^as  a  century 
ago.  We  believe  aud  trust  that  in  due  time,  the  new 
man  of  free  civil  government,  recognizing  the  life  of 
charity,  the  dignity  and  honorableness  of  useful  labor. 


16 

will  be  born  into  active  life  in  the  kins^doms  of  tlie  old 
world,  while  the  encrusted  and  useless  aristocracies  of 
faith  alone,  and  of  the  lust  of  dominion,  pass  away. 
But  it  can  only  be  through  rendings,  and  trials,  and  seas 
of  blood. 

And  even  when  a  new  nation  is  born  from  the 
descending  influences  of  the  new  heaven,  it  is  like  the 
individual  infant,  defiled  with  hereditary  evil.  A  nation 
is  but  a  larger  man,  and  the  laws  that  govern  the  birth, 
development,  regeneration,  and  perfection  of  the  one, 
govern  also  that  of  the  other. 

Hereditary  evil,  by  the  mercy  of  the  Lord,  lies  latent 
during  the  infant's  early  years,  while  remains  of  good 
and  truth,  by  various  means,  are  being  implanted  by 
the  Lord,  by  which,  in  after  life,  he  may  be  strengthened 
to  resist  and  overcome  his  inborn  evils,  when,  excited  by 
wicked  spirits,  they  shall  rise  up  to  assault  the  spiritual 
life  of  the  soul.  And  when,  in  adult  life,  hereditary 
evils,  being  excited  by  evil  spirits,  assault  the  life  of 
the  sonl,  the  man  begins  to  find  that  the  worst  foes  to 
his  regeneration,  to  his  peace,  prosperity,  and  eternal 
happiness,  are  those  of  his  own  household,  those  that 
were  born  with  him,  those  that  have  grown  up  with  and 
in  him  as  a  j^art  of  himself.  And  the  most  painful  and 
hardest  work  he  has  to  do  is,  to  "cut  off  the  right  hand, 
and  pluck  out  the  right  eye  "  of  those  hereditary  evils, 
that  from  childhood  he  has  seen  and  loved  as  a  part  of 
himself. 

But  his  regeneration  and  salvation  require  their 
removal;  and  without  it  he  cannot  be  saved.  By  the 
remains  of  good  and  truth,  stored  up  in  him  from  infancy, 
he  stands  firm  against  the  assaults  of  his  inward  foes, 
overcomes,  puts  them  down  and  away,  and  rises  into  a 
higher  and  purer  atmosphere  of  life,  and  into  a  state  of 
peace  and  blessedness  superior  to  any  he  before  enjoyed. 


17 

Just  so  with  a  nation.  Begotten  by  tlie  influence  of 
the  new  heaven,  our  nation,  as  a  nation,  derived  hered- 
itary evil  from  our  English  mother.  Declaring  all  men 
by  nature  to  be  "  free  and  equal,"  and  having  a  just 
"  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,"  she 
retained  the  taint  of  the  distinction  of  caste,  of  the 
degradation  of  labor. 

During  the  early  years  of  our  national  life,  these 
hereditary  taints,  as  in  an  infant,  were  latent  and  inac- 
tive, while  Divine  mercy  was  busy,  with  all  possible 
means,  to  store  the  inner  mind  of  the  nation  with 
remains  of  genuine  civil  and  political  good  and  truth ; 
instilling  into  the  minds  of  her  people,  more  and  more, 
the  true  and  good  principles  of  civil  life,  of  respect  for 
man  as  man,  and  for  his  natural  rights  as  an  image  of 
his  Maker,  of  the  duty  of  all  to  obey  law,  to  observe 
order,  and  for  the  honorableness  of  active  usefulness. 
By  means  of  these  remains,  implanted  in  the  inte- 
riors of  our  national  mind  continually,  by  the  various 
means  provided  by  the  Lord  for  her  instruction,  has  the 
Lord  provided  a  power  to  sustain  the  nation  in  her  day 
of  trial,  when  in  her  present  more  adult  age,  her  hered- 
itary evils  have  risen  up,  seeking  to  destroy  her  national 
life. 

Our  nation  is  no  longer  an  infant.  Hereditary  evils, 
at  first  and  for  a  long  time  measurably  latent — unob- 
served— have  risen  up  in  open  rebellion,  and  seek  by 
violence  and  war,  supremacy,  or  the  destruction  of  our 
national  life. 

Our  civil  war  is  a  conflict  between  the  old  and  the 
new ;  between  the  principles  of  free  government  and  the 
principles  of  despotism  ;  between  free  service  and  com- 
pelled labor;  between  the  right  of  man  to  own  himself 
and  the  right  of  another  to  own  him ;  the  right  of  every 

3 


18 

man  to  be  tlie  Lord's  freeman,  and  the  right  of  another 
to  enslave  him ;  between  the  doctrine  that  useful  labor 
is  honorable,  and  that  it  is  degrading ;  between  industry 
and  idleness ;  between  the  spirit  of  freedom,  and  the  lust 
of  dominion ;  between  the  love  of  use,  and  the  lust  of 
pleasure ;  between  the  new  from  heaven,  and  the  old 
from  hell.  These  are  the  principles  from  above  and 
below,  that  come  out  and  meet  in  fierce  and  open 
conflict  in  this  civil  war.  And  the  movements  and  sym- 
j)athies  of  parties,  nations  and  religions  of  the  world 
confirm,  to  every  thoughtful  and  reflecting  mind,  what 
the  light  of  the  New  Church  so  clearly  shows  to  be  the 
case. 

With  this  view  of  the  Last  Judgment,  and  its  effects 
and  influence  upon  the  world,  can  we  doubt  which  will 
finally  triumph  ?  So  sure  as  the  spring  sun  thaws  out 
the  frozen  earth,  overcomes  the  persistent  frost,  loosens 
the  icy  bands,  and  lets  the  imprisoned  water  freely  flow 
towards  the  great  fountains,  or  ascend  upon  the  sun- 
beams towards  the  heavens,  till,  filled  with  life  and  joy,  it 
spreads  itself  abroad,  and  descends  in  gentle  showers,  to 
refresh  and  fertilize  the  earth,  covering  the  fields  with 
green  and  the  forests  with  beauty,  and  making  the 
deserts  to  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose,  so  sure  will 
the  spirit  of  the  wintry  past,  in  the  religions  and  govern- 
ments of  the  nations,  and  the  frozen,  hard,  selfish  and 
oppressive  forms  and  habits  of  societies  and  peoples 
founded  thereon,  be  broken  up  by  the  spirit  of  the 
Lord,  coming  warm  from  the  new  heavens,  in  this  spring 
time  of  the  new  age ;  and  armies,  nations,  or  peoples 
that  attempt  to  sustain  the  old  and  evil,  will  melt  away, 
and  disappear  from  the  earth,  giving  place  to  the  new, 
the  free,  the  useful,  the  blessed,  in  religious,  civil,  social, 
and  domestic  life. 


19 

But  we  must  pass  from  the  Last  Judgment,  and  its 
general  effects  and  influences,  and  its  present  and  pros- 
pective results,  to  the  last  general  division  of  our 
subject, 

THE   FOURTH    OF   JULY, 

And  inquire  what  reasons  cluster  around  that  day,  from 
which  we  have  a  right  to  draw  encouragement,  that  our 
Union  will  be  preserved,  our  Government  sustained,  and 
our  Country,  with  its  untold  blessings,  saved  :  no  longer 
an  oppressor,  but  an  asylum  for  the  oppressed,  a  rest 
for  the  weary,  a  goal  for  the  wanderer,  a  light  to  the 
world ;  of  the  new  age,  the  first-born  unto  God,  among 
the  nations  of  the  earth. 

By  the  common  consent  of  mankind,  remarkable 
events  are  called  to  mind,  by  appropriate  celebrations, 
on  the  periodical  return  of  the  days  on  which  the  events 
occuiTed.  To  do  this  is  common,  and  has  been  for  ages, 
all  over  the  world.  This  custom  originated  in  Divine 
appointment,  and  exists  from  the  ground  of  spiritual 
law. 

The  Lord  appointed  the  Sabbath,  as  a  periodical 
remembrance  of  His  Rest.  Its  period  is  seven  days. 
The  Jewish  Passover  was  appointed  by  the  law,  to  be 
observed  in  memory  of  the  salvation  of  Israel  and  their 
first-born,  while  those  of  the  Egyptians  were  slain.  The 
period  of  this  is  one  year.  And  so  there  were  many 
days  appointed  to  be  observed,  by  feasting,  and  in  other 
ways — some  returning  monthly,  some  yearly — and  every 
fiftieth  year  was  a  Jubilee,  to  commemorate  especially 
the  freedom  of  Israel,  when  they  "  proclaimed  liberty 
throughout  all  the  land,  unto  all  the  inhabitants  thereof," 
(Lev.  25  :  10);  and  every  man  could  return  freely  to  his 
home,  or  the  possessions  of  his   fathers.     And  besides 


20 

tlie  days  of  Divine  appointment,  many  have  been  and 
are  still  observed  as  periodical  remembrancers  of  events 
and  of  principles  connected  witli  them — observed,  not  by 
Divine  appointment,  but  because  the  common  perception 
of  those  interested,  was  and  is  conscious  of  a  return  of 
thought  and  excitement  of  life  concerning  those  events 
and  principles,  when  the  periodic  day  or  time  returns ; 
and  they  feel  a  renewed  delight  in  such  remembrance. 
The  little  child's  birthday  party  and  the  grandfather's 
golden  wedding  are  domestic  illustrations,  while  the 
days  of  saints  and  heroes,  and  the  many  anniversa- 
ries, and  even  centennaries,  of  great  events,  are  more 
general  illustrations  of  the  same  thing. 

There  are  spiritual  reasons  why  this  should  be  so. 

Life  is  a  cycle — from  the  innocence  of  infancy  to  the 
innocence  of  wisdom  in  old  age  and  heaven.  The  uni- 
verse is  made  up  of  cycles.  The  earth  revolves  from 
morning  round  to  morning  again,  and  annually  marks  a 
larger  cycle,  and  returns  periodically  to  nearly  the  same 
point ;  and  every  section  of  its  circle  is  periodically 
marked  with  signs  according  to  its  progress,  from  spring 
with  its  grass  and  flowers,  through  the  summer  with  its 
growths  and  grains,  the  autumn  with  its  fruits,  the 
winter  with  its  snows,  to  the  spring  with  its  grass  and 
flowers  again.  Returninor  seasons  with  their  peculiar 
features,  and  returning  periods  of  each  successive  day — 
the  cycles  of  nature  in  her  thousand  forms — are  but  the 
types  of  cycles  that  belong  to  mind,  and  that  sweep 
round  their  courses  in  the  spiritual  world. 

The  spiritual  and  the  natural  world  are  closely  related. 
Men  in  the  spiritual  world,  and  men  in  the  body,  feel 
and  think  together  by  correspondence.  The  spiritual 
flows  into  and  operates  upon  the  natural  world;  spirits 
into  and  upon  men ;  spirits,  good  or  bad,  flow  into  and 
operate  upon  those  who  think  and  feel  with  them. 


21 

The  natural  forms  of  tliouc^lit  andfeelinsf  in  tlie  minds 
of  men,  are  wliat  afford  a  basis  for  this  influx  and  opera- 
tion. This  fact  is  the  basis  of  the  Holy  Sacraments  of 
the  Church,  as  a  means  of  consociation  with  the  angels : 
of  Baptism,  as  "inserting  among  Christians  in  the  spiritual 
world,"  and  the  Holy  Supper,  as  "  consociating  and  con- 
joining with  the  angels  and  the  Lord."  The  thoughts 
of  men  being  of  the  water,  the  bread  and  the  wine, 
with  an  affection  for  the  things  of  heaven,  corresponding 
to  the  thoughts  and  affections  of  the  angels  concerning 
the  spiritual  things  signified  by  them.  And  thus  the 
angels  flow  into  and  operate  npon  men  in  these  sacra- 
ments. 

Now,  certain  days  are,  in  our  minds,  associated  with 
certain  events,  and  the  principles  that  produced  them. 
When,  therefore,  a  certain  day  approaches,  our  thoughts 
turn  to,  and  our  feelings  become  interested  in  the  things 
connected  with  that  day;  and  the  spirits  that  are  in 
agreement  with  and  under  the  influence  of  similar  prin- 
ciples, become  associated  with  us,  and  more  or  less 
powerfully  influence  us. 

With  this  view  in  our  minds,  let  us  look  at  the  Fourth 
of  July,  and  some  of  the  events  more  nearly  or  remotely 
connected  with  it. 

On  the  Fourth  day  of  July,  1776,  the  fathers  of  om' 
country  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence — the 
declaration  of  civil  and  religious  freedom,  for  themselves 
and  their  children. 

That  was  our  birthday  as  a  nation.  The  principles  of 
free  government  embodied  in  that  Declaration,  signed 
upon  that  day,  assumed  form  and  found  a  home  in  the 
hearts  of  our  people;  but  more  especially,  with  those 
living  in  the  northern  half  of  our  country.  Since  then 
the    sun  has  run  his   yearly   cycle  more    than  eighty 


22 

times ;  and  at  every  return  of  that  great  day,  the  people 
have  been  stirred  as  one  man  by  the  thoughts  and 
principles  that  gave  it  birth.  In  the  northern  half  of 
our  country  especially,  the  young,  the  middle-aged,  and 
the  patriarch  leaning  on  his  staff,  have  called  to  remem- 
brance the  events  of  the  first  Fourth  of  July,  and  the 
principles  of  liberty  that  are  associated  with  it;  and 
spiritual  power  has  come  into  them  from  those  in  the 
spiritual  world  who  sympathize  with  the  sj^irit  of  free- 
dom among  men.  The  Fourth  of  July  has  thus  become 
the  Periodic  Sign  of  human  liberty  and  free  government 
on  the  earth. 

Man's  power,  and  vigor,  and  nerve,  and  active  life, 
flow  into  him  from  God,  through  the  spiritual  world. 

Put  all  these  things  together  now,  and  see  if  the 
remarkable  events — the  victories  and  successes  of  our 
arms — that  transpired  upon  and  near  the  late  Fourth  of 
July,  do  not  justly  afPord  ground  for  great  encouragement 
and  strong  confidence  that  the  rebellion  will  be  quelled, 
the  Union  preserved,  and  our  country  saved. 

All  along  through  the  year,  our  prospects,  if  not 
gloomy,  were  not  bright ;  with  few  exceptions,  the  tide 
appeared  as  much  against  as  for  us.  But  as  the  Fourth 
of  July  approached,  that  day  so  fully  associated  in  the 
Northern  mind  with  freedom,  but  so  little  cared  for  in 
the  South,  so  little  celebrated  ever,  and  especially  of  late 
years,  because  their  "  peculiar  institution"  would  be 
endangered  by  the  cultivation  and  dissemination  of  the 
spirit  of  it — as  the  day  approached,  the  thoughts  and 
feelings  connected  with  it  were  excited  in  the  Northern 
mind.  And  then  the  spirits  who  love  and  sympathize 
with  freedom,  became  present  and  flowed  into  them ; 
and  the  Northern  soldiers'  hearts  burned  with  the  fire 
of    liberty   and   free    government,    kindled    from   the 


23 

spiritual  world ;  and  his  limbs  forgot  to  be  weary,  his 
arms  grew  doubly  strong  as  they  grasped  the  weapons 
of  war.  A  mighty  strength  sustained  them,  and  gave 
them  unconquerable  power.  While  the  rebels  had  no 
such  inspiration,  but  the  reverse  ;  the  terrors  of  the 
day  were  on  them,  for  they  were  opposed  to  and  warr- 
ing against  the  very  principles  that  gave  it  birth. 
Like  Belshazzar  at  sight  of  the  handwriting  on  the 
wall,  "the  joints  of  their  loins  were  loosed,  and  their 
knees  smote  one  against  another,"  for  fear  of  what 
was  coming;  and  they  melted  away  at  Gettysburg; 
fled  panic-stricken  at  Helena;  laid  down  their  arms 
and  begged  for  mercy  at  Vicksburg ;  retreated  before 
Kosecrans ;  cowered  under  Banks  at  Hudson  ;  ran  away 
from  Jackson ;  yielded  at  Yazoo ;  scattered  before 
Blunt ;  surrendered  at  Huntsville ;  were  routed  at 
Front  Royal ;  and  on  their  knees  beg  for  mercy  in 
Ohio  ;  until  within  two  days  before  and  twenty  days 
after  the  Fourth  of  July,  more  than  seventy  thousand 
rebels  yielded  themselves  prisoners  to  the  citizen  soldiers 
who  were  fighting  to  save  their  country  born  on  that  \ 
day !  Had  the  spirits  that  loved  the  principles  an  / 
nounced  on  the  first  great  Fourth  of  July  nothing  to  do 
with  all  this?  And  if  they  had — if  their  intiuen<-^ 
strengthened  our  soldiers'  hearts  and  hands,  and  inspired 
fear  and  trembling  into  our  enemies,  then  are  these  late 
victories  a  sign  that  the  better  powers  of  the  spiritual 
world — those  in  connection  with  the  new  heavens — are 
on  the  side  of  our  country ;  and  that  we  shall,  by  such 
divine  aid  and  assistance,  in  due  time  prevail  against  all 
the  enemies  of  our  Government,  whether  foreisrn  or 
domestic.  For  if  the  Lord  and  the  heavens  are  for  us, 
who  can  be  against  us  ? 


24 

Then  "offer  unto  God  thanksgiving"  for  His  merci- 
ful help.  He  will  give  it  to  us  if  we  keep  ourselves  on 
the  right  side,  in  the  right  way.  Fear  him.  Obey  the 
laws.  Sustain  the  Government.  Serve  your  Country 
from  love  for  her  and  the  principles  of  free  government 
she  embodies  and  represents ;  and  the  armies  of  Heaven 
will  be  with  our  armies  till  the  rebellion  will  be  remem- 
bered but  as  a  terrible  tornado  that  has  passed  away. 

But  while  we  rejoice  in  recent  victories  and  in  the 
assurance  of  speedy  triumphs,  till  peace  shall  again  be 
with  us,  we  are  called  to  sorrow  with  the  many  thou- 
sands who  have  been  torn  and  wounded,  in  their  own 
persons  or  in  their  friends,  by  the  terrible  storm.  The 
moan  of  the  bereaved,  the  widow's  wail  and  the  orphan's 
cry,  come  to  us  on  every  breeze.  The  maimed,  the 
wounded,  and  the  limping,  meet  us  at  every  corner. 
The  call  of  our  sick  and  suffering  soldiers  comes  on  the 
wind  from  every  hospital.  They  call  for  our  help. 
They  are  doing  more  for  us  than  we  can  ever  do  for 
them.  While  with  humble  and  thankful  hearts  we 
g" offer  unto  God  thanksgiving"  and  sing  him  words  of 
a^raise,  let  us  show  our  thankfulness  of  heart  by  corres- 
ponding deeds,  and  give,  for  the  relief  and  comfort  of 
ihe  sick  and  suffering,  as  the  Lord  has  given  us  ability. 
Amen. 


UCSY 
3 


J ' 


M  ^ 


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